Natural Compounds and Cancer: Current Evidences

Overview

Journal Maedica (Bucur)

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2024 Nov 18

PMID 39553354

Authors

Aikaterini D Lianou

Georgios D Lianos

Dimitrios Schizas

Nikolaos Machairas

Michail Mitsis

George A Alexiou

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Natural compounds are constantly gaining ground in the treatment of various chronic diseases and in cancer research. Recent efforts have been focusing on them due to their special features consisting of low toxicity and high bioavailability. These compounds have already demonstrated important antitumor activity against several cancers in vitro through several mechanisms, including cell viability reduction, suppression of cell proliferation, cell death induction and cell cycle arrest. Herewith, we reviewed natural compounds that can be potentially used for head and neck cancer, glioblastoma and gastrointestinal cancers.

Citing Articles

Synergistic Anti-Cancer Effects of Isocnicin and Radiotherapy in Glioblastoma: A Natural Compound's Potential.

Tsafa E, Dimitriadis K, Kalampoki L, Papapetrou P, Georgalis P, Bozios G Biomedicines. 2025; 12(12.

PMID: 39767700 PMC: 11673723. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12122793.

References

Gao S, Zhou J, Liu N, Wang L, Gao Q, Wu Y . Curcumin induces M2 macrophage polarization by secretion IL-4 and/or IL-13. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015; 85:131-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2015.04.025. View

Guo H, He Y, Bu C, Peng Z . Antitumor and apoptotic effects of 5-methoxypsoralen in U87MG human glioma cells and its effect on cell cycle, autophagy and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Arch Med Sci. 2019; 15(6):1530-1538. PMC: 6855158. DOI: 10.5114/aoms.2019.81729. View

Youdim K, Shukitt-Hale B, Joseph J . Flavonoids and the brain: interactions at the blood-brain barrier and their physiological effects on the central nervous system. Free Radic Biol Med. 2004; 37(11):1683-93. DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2004.08.002. View

Levin V, Ellingson B . Understanding brain penetrance of anticancer drugs. Neuro Oncol. 2018; 20(5):589-596. PMC: 5892153. DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noy018. View

Sertel S, Fu Y, Zu Y, Rebacz B, Konkimalla B, Plinkert P . Molecular docking and pharmacogenomics of vinca alkaloids and their monomeric precursors, vindoline and catharanthine. Biochem Pharmacol. 2011; 81(6):723-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2010.12.026. View

Ma Y, Yao C, Liu H, Yu F, Lin J, Lu K . Quercetin induced apoptosis of human oral cancer SAS cells through mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum mediated signaling pathways. Oncol Lett. 2018; 15(6):9663-9672. PMC: 6004715. DOI: 10.3892/ol.2018.8584. View

Hazafa A, Rehman K, Jahan N, Jabeen Z . The Role of Polyphenol (Flavonoids) Compounds in the Treatment of Cancer Cells. Nutr Cancer. 2019; 72(3):386-397. DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2019.1637006. View

Kubina R, Iriti M, Kabala-Dzik A . Anticancer Potential of Selected Flavonols: Fisetin, Kaempferol, and Quercetin on Head and Neck Cancers. Nutrients. 2021; 13(3). PMC: 7998948. DOI: 10.3390/nu13030845. View

Kyritsis A, Bondy M, Levin V . Modulation of glioma risk and progression by dietary nutrients and antiinflammatory agents. Nutr Cancer. 2011; 63(2):174-84. PMC: 3047463. DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2011.523807. View

10.

Sun X, Zhang X, Zhai H, Zhang D, Ma S . Magnoflorine inhibits human gastric cancer progression by inducing autophagy, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest by JNK activation regulated by ROS. Biomed Pharmacother. 2020; 125:109118. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2019.109118. View

11.

Weng W, Goel A . Curcumin and colorectal cancer: An update and current perspective on this natural medicine. Semin Cancer Biol. 2020; 80:73-86. PMC: 7438305. DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.02.011. View

12.

Noroxe D, Poulsen H, Lassen U . Hallmarks of glioblastoma: a systematic review. ESMO Open. 2017; 1(6):e000144. PMC: 5419216. DOI: 10.1136/esmoopen-2016-000144. View

13.

Lin A, Nakagawa-Goto K, Chang F, Yu D, Morris-Natschke S, Wu C . First total synthesis of protoapigenone and its analogues as potent cytotoxic agents. J Med Chem. 2007; 50(16):3921-7. PMC: 2587018. DOI: 10.1021/jm070363a. View

14.

Alexiou G, Lazari D, Markopoulos G, Vartholomatos E, Hodaj E, Galani V . Moschamine inhibits proliferation of glioblastoma cells via cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Tumour Biol. 2017; 39(5):1010428317705744. DOI: 10.1177/1010428317705744. View

15.

Vengoji R, Macha M, Batra S, Shonka N . Natural products: a hope for glioblastoma patients. Oncotarget. 2018; 9(31):22194-22219. PMC: 5955138. DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.25175. View

16.

Newman D, Cragg G . Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs over the Nearly Four Decades from 01/1981 to 09/2019. J Nat Prod. 2020; 83(3):770-803. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b01285. View

17.

Luo H, Vong C, Chen H, Gao Y, Lyu P, Qiu L . Naturally occurring anti-cancer compounds: shining from Chinese herbal medicine. Chin Med. 2019; 14:48. PMC: 6836491. DOI: 10.1186/s13020-019-0270-9. View

18.

Ohno M, Nishida A, Sugitani Y, Nishino K, Inatomi O, Sugimoto M . Nanoparticle curcumin ameliorates experimental colitis via modulation of gut microbiota and induction of regulatory T cells. PLoS One. 2017; 12(10):e0185999. PMC: 5630155. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185999. View

19.

Khalifa S, Elias N, Farag M, Chen L, Saeed A, Hegazy M . Marine Natural Products: A Source of Novel Anticancer Drugs. Mar Drugs. 2019; 17(9). PMC: 6780632. DOI: 10.3390/md17090491. View

20.

Seyithanoglu M, Abdallah A, Kitis S, Guler E, Kocyigit A, Dundar T . Investigation of cytotoxic, genotoxic, and apoptotic effects of curcumin on glioma cells. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2019; 65(3):101-108. View